"These were the most intense hours I've ever experienced on a boat," he reports, “With the help of his technical team and Jean Le Cam I managed to solve the problem.”
"In the middle of a short sleep, I heard a huge bang. I woke up with a start, I got out of the bunk, I see oil exploded all over the boat, the keel hanging to leeward. Exactly the same scenario as during the Transat CIC where I broke my hydraulic ram that holds the keel, and which tried to smash the entire bottom of the hull. The diagnosis was made quite quickly: there is a part of he cylinder that literally exploded and shattered part of the cylinder material and caused an oil leak.
His technical team were mobilized through the night.
“ After 12 hours of work, some relayed by Jean le Cam who was incredible and who accompanied me all night, he found solutions, brought ideas. He called me every hour last night. It was hard work and non stop. I'm tired, totally exhausted, my body is stiff. I can't shake hands anymore. It's the aftermath both physical and emotional, because I've been through the mill. I really thought that the Vendée Globe was over. For a good part of the night, I was looking at how to get to Perth, Australia, so that the team could work on the boat.”
“I was already into the idea of finishing this round the world race out of the race. I went through all the emotional states. Now I have to rest but I have a bit of the "beanbag trauma": as soon as I sit in it, the slightest noise makes me jump out of the bunk. I'll have to manage to put this little trauma to behind me because if all goes well there is still half a round the world to go!”
